S10
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Yes, late Ming Dynasty's gunpowder weapons were very much primitive by European standards at the time. Hand-to-hand weaponary, crossbows and composites bows were still the mainstay of the Chinese armies at the time, both Ming and Qing troops included. Qing actually did charge the Ming gunpowder troops head on, and normally would emerge victorious. Both Song and Ming troops were notoriously poorly trained and equipped, with only a handful of elites. Go learn about Ming 军户 system and Song 禁军 system, and you will quickly learn everybody in society at the time despise soldiers as a profession. Low morale, poorly trained troops will be defeated each time, regardless of how good their weapons are.Primitive gunpowder? That depends. With poor morale, training, and leadership (influenced by traitors), gun soldiers in the 17th century were indeed no match for cavalry. But highly disciplined soldiers of the 17th century have no problems. The economics of gun soldier vs. cavalry rider means that treason and incompetence are the only ways for a much more populous, defending nation to lose with gun soldiers against pure cavalry (which the Manchus were). Of course, once the cavalry was supplemented by gun wielding infantry (Ming traitors) they grew very deadly. Cavalry of that time already couldn't simply charge at mass infantry lines with massed guns, pikes and swords. They had to rely on attacking flanks or waiting for retreats after artillery bombardment. But of course once Wu Sangui agreed to help the Manchus, the Manchus got hold of the artillery and infantry they needed.
Cavalry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Also, by the time Wu Sangui led the Manchus in, the Ming dynasty was already long finished. Li Zicheng had destroyed the Ming through a peasant rebellion, and declared himself emperor. He was sending troops to kill Wu Sangui, who obtained the aid of Manchus to save himself. In the case of Jia Sidao, Song had already lost Xiangyang before he even became the prime minister. Without the strategic stronghold of Xiangyang, it was only a matter of time before Mongols were able to encircle Southern Song. Its fate was already sealed, Jia Sidao or not. Learn your history before crying foul. I find your historical knowledge to be especially lacking.
Jia Sidao and Wu Sangui were both the products of a crumbling empire. Song was dead meat by then and Ming was already dead in their case. There were Hans that assisted the Xiongnu during Han Wudi's reign, yet that didn't prevent Han dynasty from beating the crap out of Xiongnu. Traitors only have room to operate if the country is already a trainwreck, otherwise they're just storm in a teacup.Yes, there were soviet collaborators, but they never changed the outcome of the war as much as Jia Sidao and Wu Sangui did.
No, the living condition of the people is always a problem, ALWAYS. Any half competent government should focus on improving the lives of the public first and foremost. Borrowing Samuel John's quote, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel". While there is nothing wrong with patriotism, only fools should put that above all else. Like I said, people support whoever gives them a better life.Yes, it can't feed empty stomachs, but empty stomachs is not the problem right now. NO ideology can do anything other than act as a guide. However, sometimes the guidance can push a society in a direction, whether right or wrong. As speeder said, the ideology should "fit" the nation. I won't get into the IQ and all, of course.
Chinese have no offensive mindset? Heh that's a fresh one. I wonder how we got from a few tribes along the Yellow River to the third largest landmass in the world. Conquest doesn't always have to come through military arms. If the same effect can be achieved through cultural and economic means, all the better. Certainly you can criticise Confucianism, but I do not think there is anything inherently wrong with Confucius's teaching. In fact, it was people that can after that tainted his wisdom. A country needs to be held together through a common ideal, and communism has been tried and failed.I don't know if you've watched the documentary 《河殇〉 or not. While it has been criticized as a self hating racist movie, I think it has many valid points. The first is Chinese people's defensive mindset. We should always be thinking offense, and how to take the lead, instead of defending. Our foreign policy is a direct result of this defensive mindset. Of course, this documentary does have self hating racist parts and intense US worship, but its criticism of Confucian ideals should at least be considered.